Mother Of Pearl

Another stonkingly hot day, reaching 32C in Peterborough. In the morning we visited Molly's house for the first time since her funeral. It was rather strange for us, being there alone in the house that held so many memories, but the focus of our visit was the garden, which had suffered from a long period with little attention. Many of the plants growing in pots were on the brink of death, so Pete spent his time watering them and topping up the two small ponds, which had dried out in the recent heatwave. Alex cut back bushes and dead-headed, while I weeded some of the beds. By 11 am it was too hot to continue so we packed a few things into the car, including a potted tree peony, and returned home via the farm shop.

Pete put the moth trap on in the evening, and I spent a couple of hours sitting beside it, as it was far too hot to be in the house! I was accompanied by our remaining cat, and two frogs (see extra), who were snapping up any insects who strayed too close to them. At one point I had a frog sitting companionably on my foot. Once again, we didn't get a great many species, but I thought this Mother Of Pearl was particularly pretty - the photograph brings out the pink and purple sheen on its almost translucent wings. It's a very common moth of gardens and waste ground whose caterpillars can be found in rolled up leaves of Common Nettle and elm.